The Paris Stock Exchange rose on Tuesday morning, with higher oil prices supporting the energy sector, while banks were supported by “hawkish” comments from the chairman of the US Federal Reserve. The conflict in Ukraine nevertheless remains at the heart of investors’ concerns as the war has now lasted for almost a month. Trading volumes are also limited with just over 560 million traded on the values of the flagship index.
At 10:35 a.m., the Bedroom 40 rose by 0.71% to 6,628.76 points. The contras future June on US indices gained around 0.5%.
Jerome Powell said Monday evening that the US Federal Reserve must act ” quickly to control excessively high inflation and that it could, if the situation requires it, be more aggressive. Thus, it will not hesitate to raise its interest rates by more than 25 basis points if necessary. Speaking at a conference organized by the National Association for Business Economics (NABE), the Fed Chairman paved the way for a 50 basis point hike in the Fed funds rate in May, but also to d other increases of the same magnitude. The Fed raised the federal funds rate by a quarter point last week, the first since 2018.
TotalEnergies and the banks in the spotlight
While Wall Street limited its decline at the close on Monday, the yield on the US 10-year bond hit a nearly 3-year high of 2.3607% this morning, while the market now assesses the probability of a 50 basis point hike in the Fed funds rate in May.
The war in Ukraine continues to weigh on investors’ morale by heightening fears of a shortage of raw materials, especially as the Europeans could consider imposing sanctions on Russian oil. At the same time, Saudi oil installations have been targeted by Houthi militias armed by Iran.
TotalEnergies continues to rise with a gain of 2.1% despite the decline in the barrel of Brent from the North Sea to 114.17 dollars, against 119.48 at the high of the day. Still in the energy sector, Engie gained 2.7% while natural gas prices stabilized at 95.95 euros per megawatt hour in Amsterdam.
Other value related to raw materials, ArcelorMittal rises 2.1%.
BNP Paribas advance of 2.7% after announcing its decision to suspend all new financing in Russia. Agricultural credit rises by 2.6% and Societe Generale by 2.6%.
Liquid air cedes 0.5% unveiled its new strategic plan for 2025, which includes a sales growth target on a comparable basis of 5% to 6% on average per year. The group also expects a return on capital employed (ROCE) of more than 10% from 2023, as well as growth in its operating margin of more than 160 basis points between 2022 and 2025.